Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-01-27
INTERESTING RELICS.
Discoveries Made 55 Feet Below the Surface of
the Earth.

the Earth.
Milwaukee Sentinel.
S. A. Harrison, of the firm OF Harrison
d Green, railroad contractors, has in his
possession several specimens which will
be of much interest to antiquarians, which
were obtained under rather peculiar cir
cumstances.
Mr.. Harrison's firm is the contractor
for the construction of the new branch of
the Chicago, Milwaukee d st. Paul rail
way from Sioux City to Manila Junction,
Iowa The road follows the level of the
Missouri river for part of the distance.
A bout 40 miles southeast of Sioux City,
within a distance of four mile3 from the
Mapleton Station, and ten miles from the
Missouri river valley, the new railway
line encounters a high hill, which is the
main divide between the valleys of the
Maple and Little Sioux. This divide is
more than ten miles long, and the eleya
ton varies in width from half a mile to
mile and a half. The railway line crosses
the hill at its lowest point. To accom-
plish this it was necessary to dig cut ga
feet deep and a little over a mile in
length. The earth which it was necessary
to remove in digging the cut Is, with the
exception of that on the surface, the yell
lowish clay which is characteristic of that
part OF Iowa. This clay is very compact,
and devoid of rock and gravel.
At depth from thirty to thirty five
feet, on the side of the hill sloping to-
ward the Little Sioux valley, the workmen
in digging the cut discovered what Mr..
Harrison believes to be the marks of
eleven tepee fires. A quantity of wood
ashes was found in each of the eleven
places, varying from half a bushel to a
bushel and half. With each deposit of
ashes was also found quantity of char
coal.
Further along in the cut was found
what appeared to be the remains of an
old structure, the nature and purpose of
which could not be determined. The
workmen engaged on the cut call it "the
lime kiln" Two walls of soft limestone,
about sixteen feet apart, rise perpendicu-
larly through the clay, and were first
noticed at depth of fifty feet from the
surface. The walls are from eighteen in
ches to two feet thick, and were removed
by the workmen for perpendicular dis
lance of ten feet before the level of the
railroad grade was reached, without dis
covering the base of the peculiar forma
ton.
About five hundred feet from the slime
kiln" was found another trophy. At a
depth of fifty-fve feet from the surface
the workmen discovered, pointing dia-
gonal across the course of the railroad
track, the trunk of black walnut or ash
tree, about a foot In diameter. Twelve
feet Of the protrueding timber was cut
off, and the remainder was left inbedded
in the side of the cut. When the axes of
the workmen cut into the tree, the wood
was apparently sound, but when it had
been subjected to the action of the air
the water with which it was soaked eva
porated and tho wood gave evidence of
extreme rottenness. Mr.. Harrison Sc
cured a piece about foot long, which
he brought with him to Milwaukee.
Still another find was made in this ex-
traordinary railroad cut. The bones of
some large animal in badly decayed
state, were discovered and thrown out on
the dump-pile with no care or thought
of saving them. Mr.. Harrison obtained
the skull, which In appearance resembled
that of a buffalo, though somewhat larger
He saved four of the teeth, and they are
now in the possession Of Henry Mann,
of this city, who as a naturalist has some
interest in discovering the species of the
animal whose bones were found under
such peculiar circumstances. Prof. Peck
ham will assist Mr.. Mann in his efforts
to classify the animal.
The question of particular interest in
connectiod with these discoveries IS:
What were the circumstances under
which the skeleton and tree, which
of course were at one time on top of th e
earth, became buried so far beneath it's
surface? Antiquarians may also try to
guess what race of beings built the tee
pee fires, and the evidence of which is
thus discovered, and at what age the
limestone walls were erected, The geo.
logical formation of the earth at the lev
ell where the finds were made is entirely
different from that of the surface, Mr.
Harrison says that there is good evidence
thatfit formerly composed the surface Of
the earth. The level is about 232 feet
Above the highwater mark of the Mis-
souri, river.
D0ITTTV MOTIFS